01511 ／ さるふつむら
Hokkaido 宗谷郡A 16 km road runs across pasture upland.
Esanuka Line, Asajino Plateau01 ／ Lake Mokeuni
Hokkaido Prefecture describes a group of lakes made up of Mokeuni and two smaller ponds, and says Mokeuni means "pond with dead trees" in Ainu. It calls the sphagnum bog and wet Sakhalin spruce forest around them the park's representative scenery.
02 ／ Lake Kamuito
Hokkaido Prefecture describes Lake Kamuito as a small lagoon ringed by low hills, 2.3 km around and 0.19 km2 in area. It says Kamuito comes from Ainu for "pond where gods live" and calls it a mysterious pond surrounded by old-growth forest of Sakhalin fir and other trees.
03 ／ Isari Monument
The village says its fishery, after a time of depleted stocks, shifted to resource-managed fishing through ground-building, hatching and release projects. The first scallop spat release took place in May 1971, and the Isari Monument was unveiled at a ceremony on 22 November 1981.
Now and 1974–78. Tap a photo to zoom in.
Wide (about 6 km across)
Close (about 1.5 km across)
Now (shot August–September 2024)Shot 1974–78
Source: Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) GSI Tiles（全国最新写真（シームレス）／国土画像情報（第一期：1974〜1978年撮影））
Living here
There is no railway station in the village; the Tenpoku Line closed on 30 April 1989. The village says most of its farmland is pasture and that dairy farming, with fishing, is one of its two main industries. It calls the postwar group settlers from Yamagata Prefecture the foundation of dairy farming.
−2.7% since 2015
3,121 → 2,611
121.3km² of it habitable
2024
2.1 people per household
2020
15.3 per 10,000 people
2023
These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.
ACCESS
Travel times follow 宗谷バス『天北宗谷岬線バス時刻表』（令和5年10月1日改正・令和6年8月1日天北号時刻改正。稚内営業所のページ http://www.soyabus.co.jp/routebus/wakkanai に載る現行の PDF。PDF の作成日は 2024-07-25）。上り（浜頓別方面行）の便2・4・6・8：南駅前（南稚内駅前）9:36→鬼志別ターミナル着11:04／13:36→15:04／16:18→17:46／19:36→21:04＝4本とも88分（稚内駅前ターミナル発は9:30・13:30・16:12・19:30で94分）。 (checked 2026-10-29). They vary by time of day.
Shape
North to south
39.1km
If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.
From this town's themes
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Wooden museum, wire-mesh concrete walls.
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Past a bridge, plants turn red in fall.
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Bones of one long cared for, found here.
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